Everybody's Fool
by Macbeth2
Summary: Songfic. No pairing. My opinions aren't this extreme they are exaggerated for the fic.  On Dumbledore after Deathly Hallows.  SPOILERS!  Some parts are AU.  Please R&R!


**A/N: In the light of Deathly Hallows, and all that was revealed about a certain person, I thought I would do a Dumbledore fic. It doesn't portray him in a good light, as you can see from the song, which is Everybody's Fool by Evanescence. It might be a **_**kind of**_** bit AU to fit the song, because one of my fanfic pet peeves are fanfics that don't exactly fit the song, and also, it does contain some spoilers. (If it doesn't fit really well, than why are you using it?) Anyway, this is sort of like, Dumbledore was in Slytherin (for his ambition), and he wanted power, so even though he thought they should destroy the muggles to uphold the magical way of life, he hid it and made himself out to be a perfect, great guy so he get enough power to run Hogwarts. He is manipulating Harry, but the AU part is where Harry finds out before the rest of the wizarding world. I also changed the restrictions of the results of his mother's sacrifice; with my creative licence, they could have been active as long as Harry was living with someone who knew and was friends with, Lily. (This has to be done to sync with the song exactly.) ) Have fun reading!! Please review! Oh, and those of you who are waiting for a sequal to my fic A New Harry, it is coming, I just need inspiration.**

**WARNING!!!! Spoilers, not many, but they are bigs ones, so don't say I didn't warn you. :( And yes, there is Dumbledore bashing, but don't flame me. I'm just expressing an opinion.**

**And about the song, there is one line where it says "but now I know she". I'm not changing it to he, even though this fic is about a guy, because I don't want to change the lyrics. Just pretends it says he. And I skipped five lines in the song because it would've required a lot of repitition of what I'd already said. I'm sorry.**

**(insert line)**

Everything Albus Dumbledore tryed, he excelled at. People said he was perfect by nature, but he was also obsessed with that which would make him powerful. Icons of self-indulgence, he called them; he thought everyone needed to self-indulge themselves occasionally. He didn't believe in drinking to much, smoking, or gluttany, no. His idea of pleasing himself and no one else was rising to power, because then, he thought, no one can tell you what to do. He was perfect, and everyone knew he would be the next Minister of Magic, but then he became a teacher at Hogwarts, and then Headmaster. He stopped there, much to everyone's disappointment and confusion. But he was content, content with the power he possessed, the power to shape young minds to believe what he believed. To believe in him and his ability to do anything he had to do to protect the wizarding world. He was in control, not only of the school, but also of the ministry. Never mind the current Minister; they always came to him to tell them what to do.

**Perfect by nature  
Icons of self indulgence  
Just what we all need**

And then along came Harry Potter, and Dumbledore knew from the beginning what he would have to do, but he also knew he had to make sure it happened. To the people who wanted to bring him to an upstanding magical family, he made it seem like there were dark wizards waiting all over Britain to come and take Voldemort's place destroying lives, all the while knowing he was telling lies. He was telling lies to people that trusted him, respected him, even worshipped him; he didn't care. He was protecting himself, protecting Harry, because he was paranoid about what could possibly happen. He knew that if Harry was pampered, he wouldn't be courageous or humble enough to let himself die for the sake of others, and so he lied. He had no qualms, he just hoped he could inconspicuously mold Harry into believing what he believed, that muggles were a danger to magical society, by leaving him with muggles that he knew would mistreat him. That was the only place he went wrong in his plan, for Harry never believed that. And so he lied some more to convince people that these muggles, Harry's last remaining family, would help save him, would spoil him. He knew they wouldn't; they were horrible, but that's why Dumbledore had chosen them. He created a world that had never been, and never would be, just to get what he wanted.

**More lies about a world that  
Never was and never will be  
Have you no shame, don't you see me?**

And, unsuprisingly, everyone believed him. He had known they would. He was powerful, just as everyone had expected of him when he was young; he was respected. He said "kill yourself" and they willingly put the Killing Curse to their heads. He had everyone convinced, everyone fooled into believing that the Dursley's would never abuse that child, that when Harry grew up he would be a pampered little prince, just as he should be. He had everyone fooled, and he knew it. He could do anything he wanted to, and he did.

**You know you've got everybody fooled**

As sthe years went on, Dumbledore just became more and more revered and important. Chief Warlock of the Wizangamot, Confederation of Wizards, Order of Merlin First Class, all his achievements. Harry grew up and came to Hogwarts, where he excelled at getting into trouble and defending the school when it needed to be defended, and again, Dumbledore was given credit. Sure, there were people who questioned his methods on running Hogwarts, but these people were few and far between, as much as they were needed. Most people didn't question him. "He's a genius; he knows what he's doing," they all said. Oh, how everyone loved Dumbledore, all the people who didn't see how he was manipulating them, using them. Especially their hero; Harry was being used the most, the worse. He had no idea of his fate, of what was to become of him in the end, but Dumbledore didn't care. He would never tell anyone. He didn't care as long as it happened, and he didn't have to. Because no matter what cruelty he was hiding, no one would believe he did it.

**Look here she comes now  
Bow down and stare in wonder  
Oh how we love you**

He was a great actor. That was what Harry thought when he found out about who Dumbledore really was at the end of sixth year, a couple weeks before his death.. He was angry, furious, but he didn't tell anyone because he knew no one would ever believe him. He was just a pathetic teenage boy who didn't know what he was talking about. But he knew. He knew the day he thought about the prophecy for the umpteenth time, and had an uncharacteristic moment of realization, telling him exactly what Dumbledore meant to him. He realized it the day he found out that the spells that were supposed to have been put up around Number 4 Privet Drive, based around his mother's love, could have been put up around the house of anyone who knew her at all. He could have lived with Remus Lupin, and could've been spared the weeks without food, the locked up time in the cupboard, and the other unmentionable things that he hadn't told anyone about. Dumbledore was pretending; he was a lying bastard, but he knew, and Harry knew, that if word got out, no one would believe it. And that made Harry even more angry. To know that no matter what he did, no one would believe that their wise man, their elder, was using them. Not even Harry's best friends.

**No flaws when you're pretending  
But now I know she  
Never was and never will be**

He didn't even tell his mentor that he knew. He let Dumbledore go one thinking that he had everything, and everyone, under control. But he did subtle things to let him know; he wondered why he got the scar and why his home blew up, because the Killing Curse kill people quietly and painlessly. He asked why he could see into Voldemort's mind. He asked questions that Dumbledore couldn't answer, and watched contentedly as he got more and more uncomfortable with them. He continued to do this until the fateful night where Snape killed him. But he still had everybody fooled over the summer, regardless of the book Rita Skeeter wrote; the only thing she ever wrote that was truth. Harry pretended to not believe it, even when he knew that every word was true. But no one believed what she wrote.

**You don't know how you've betrayed me  
And somehow you've got everybody fooled**

Once the rest of the Wizarding World finally realized that everything in the biography was absolutely true, even the fact that their beloved mentor was gay, there was an uproar. People were angry at him for manipulating and lying to them. They were angry at the Minister for letting him have such control for so many years. They were angry at Harry Potter for knowing but not telling anyone. But most of all, they were angry at themselves for believing every lie, every exageration he ever told them. Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore had finally been unmasked, and those wizards who still revered him could only be happy that he hadn't been alive to see it, because he wouldn't have been able to change. By the time he died, he knew he couldnt' find himself amongst the web of lies he had created to protect himself and his plan. And neither could the people who had known him before he started creating it. Like his brother, Aberforth. And his old schoolmates. Those of them who knew him couldn't find the gap between the old Dumbledore and the new one.

**Without the mask, where will you hide?  
Can't find yourself lost in your lie**

Many people and businesses took their portraits of him down. They now knew the truth, and their love for him was no longer there. They knew who he was; just another man who was obsessed with gaining as much power as possible. He wasn't in control now, not anymore, and he wouldn't be even if he had been alive. He lost the Order of Merlin, First Class on the grounds that he had used questionable means to accomplish his achievements. He wasn't on the list of dead Chief Warlocks of the Wizengamot, Confederation of Wizards. The only portrait of him left was the portrait in the Headmaster's Office at Hogwarts, because the one thing he didn't lie about was his ability to teach and guide children. But the population of the wizarding world didn't love him, didn't respect him, didn't revere or worship him anymore. He held no standing to them.

**I know the truth now  
I know who you are  
And I don't love you anymore**

For years, generations to come, people would laugh bitterly and quietly to themselves at Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore's great downfall from most influencial person in all of Wizarding history, to most hated former headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He was no longer revered, because no one reveres someone who lies to them. He was no longer worshipped, because no one worships someone who manipulates them. He was no longer respected, because no one can respect somone so willing to be so dishonest to get what he wanted. He was no longer loved, because no one can love someone who was willing to sacrifice a boy, and knew it was that boy's destiny to die without telling him, just to aquire a so called "peace" that he knew would never exist.

**Somehow now your'e everybody's fool**

**insert line)**

**A/N: Well, there you go. I don't actually hate Dumbledore with this much of a passion; this fic is very much exaggerated! Thanks for reading, and PLEASE REVIEW!**


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